Apparatus for producing hydrogen adsorption alloy

Abstract

A method and apparatus for producing a hydrogen adsorption alloy, the apparatus comprising a high speed ball mill in the form of a planetary ball mill mounted to a rotatable main shaft, wherein the planetary ball mill includes a plurality of mill pots each mounted for rotation on its own axis, a planetary gear disposed on the periphery of each mill pot, a fixed sun gear meshing with the planetary gears, and an atmosphere adjusting device connected to each mill pot. A drive rotates the main shaft causing each mill pot to revolve around the main shaft which results in the planetary gears traveling around the sun gear to rotate each mill pot on its own axis, the rotation of each mill pot being in the same direction as the rotation of the main shaft.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus for producing a hydrogen adsorption alloy, comprising a rotatable main shaft and a high speed ball mill in the form of a planetary ball mill mounted to said rotatable main shaft, said planetary ball mill having a housing mounting a plurality of mill pots for rotation, each mill pot defining an axis of rotation and each being detachably connected to means for converting the atmosphere in each mill pot to a non-oxidizing atmosphere, means for rotating said planetary ball mill about said main shaft wherein each mill pot revolves about said main shaft, and means for rotating each mill pot on its own axis in the same direction as the planetary ball mill rotates about the main shaft, wherein the composite milling acceleration ratio G applied to the internal part of each mill pot is at least 30 and the rotational angular velocity ratio R is at most 1.9, said composite milling acceleration ratio G being expressed by:   G=amax/g=(ω1).sup.2 /2g(K+N×(1+R).sup.2),     where G is the composite milling acceleration ratio;   a max is the composite milling acceleration (m/S);   g is the acceleration of gravity (m/S);   ω1 is the angular velocity of revolution (1/S);   K is the diameter of revolution (m);   N is the internal diameter of the mill pot (m);   ω2is the relative angular velocity of rotation with respect to revolution (1/S); and   R is the ration ω2/ω1.   
     
     
       2. An apparatus for producing a hydrogen adsorption alloy according to claim 1, wherein said means for rotating each mill pot includes planetary means mounted to said main shaft and to each mill pot to rotate each mill pot, and wherein fine particles of at least two kinds of metals are adapted for alloying, at least one of the at least two kinds of metals being selected from the group consisting of: Mg, Ca, La, misch metal and Ti, while the remaining at least one of the at least two kinds of metal being selected from the group consisting of: Ni, Al, V, Cr, Fe, Co, Zr, Cu and Mn.